Flash-light gun



March 11 1924.

E. L. JOHNSON FLASH LIGHT GUN Filed Sept. 2, 1922 l Patented ar. ll, 1924.

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FLASH-LIGHT GUN.

Application led September 2, 1922. Serial No. 585,860.

To all ,whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EVERARD L. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Patchogue, in the county of Suffolk and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Flash- Light Guns, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains-to make and use the saine.

This invention relates to flash guns and particularly to guns of this4 class designed for use by photographers, particularly professional photographers, in taking lashlight pictures; and the object of the inven tion is to provide a gun of the class and for the purpose specified provided with means for externally supporting a flashl powder, and means forlgenerating sparks within a closed casing and for directing the sparks to the powder tov be exploded; a further 0bject being to providepmeans for controlling the communication between the. sparking means and the ,powder receiving means, which last namedmeans is automatically operated; a still further object being to pro-V vide means for normally holding the sparking element in a predetermined position, and with means .for releasing said last named means, and with these and other Vobjects in view the invention consists in a gun of the class and for the purpose specified, which Y is simple in construction, efficient in use, and

which is constructed as hereinafter described and claimed. x 1 Y TheV invention described and claimed is an improvement on that shown and de ,Y scribed in a prior application for patent,

filed by me on the 26th day of February in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-one, Ser. No. 448,157, and is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters in each of the views and in which Fig. 1 is a side view of my improvedgun with part of the construction broken away.

Fig. 2 is a partial section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Y i

Fig. 3 is a view similar .to Fig. 1 butshowing the parts in a different position and with part of theconstruction broken away and in section. y Y

Fig. 4 is a partial section on the line 4-4 ofFigfan, y N

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the lower end portion of my improved gun.

My improved gun comprises in the construction shown, a substantially rectangular box-shaped casing 1() which is closed at one side, and the other side of which is open and adapted to be closed by a cover plate 11.

Rotatably mounted' in the casing 10 is a c5 elongated arc-shaped aperture 14 in the 70 cover plate 11 and a spring-15 is connected with the arm 13 and with the casing 10 as shown at 16 and operates Ato advance the member 12 as hereinafter described. The

member 12 is provided with an arc-,shaped 75 portion 17 provided in the periphery thereof with a groove adapted to receive a similarly shaped'le strip 18 held in placeby screws 19 and one end of the arc-shaped portion 17 is provided with a catch 2O in connection 80 with which a pawl 21 is adapted to operate.

The pawl 21 is pivoted to the casing 10 as shown at 22 and is provided with an elongated arm 23, with which alight spring 24 is connected, and the tension of the spring 24 is adjusted by a rod 25 and milled-nut 26 mounted thereon, and the rod 25 passes through a suitable keeper 27 in the casing 10.

Mounted in the casing 10 is an air oper- 90 ated trip device 28 provided with a piston 29 which is adapted to be operated by air under pressure passed through a flexible tube 3() from the usual hand bulb lor the like,

as is'customary in devices of this class and @E the piston 29 is adapted to strike the arm 23 of the pawl 21 to move it into inoperative position against the tension of the spring 24. It will be understood that the desired pressure for actuating the pawl 21 m0 may be regulated by adjusting the tension of the spring 24.

The bottom of the casing 10 is provided substantially centrally thereof with adownwardly directed stud 31 by means of which nos the gun may be mounted in connection with a suitable support and at one side of the stud 31, the casing is provided with a sleeve 32 in which a piece of flint 33 is mounted and held in engagement with the roughened lic ,face of the stri 18 on the sparking member 12 by a spring' 34 the' tension of which is controlled by a screw 35. rl`he casingl 10 is also provided with means for supporting a cushion pad 36 in connection with which the member 12 operates and in juxtaposition to and slightly forwardly of the member 12 and in the path of such member, the casing 10 is provided with a pocket 3T on the outer face thereof, which communicates with the interior of the casing 1() through an aperture 38 as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawing and outvsfardly into a trough 39 which extends longitudinally of one face of the casing 10 and the communication between the interior of the easing 10 and the pocket 32"' as well as the trough 39 through the aperture 38 is controlled by a trap door i0 pivoted to the `(Rising as shown at d1 and this door is provided with an arm 2 with which a spiral spring L13 is connected, said spring normally serving to hold the trap door in an open position, and the arc-shaped portion 1T of the member 12 is provided with a projecting pin l-t, which is adapted to strike the arm 42 to move the trap door 4t() into an operative position and to close the communication between the casing` and the pocket 37.

The object of the trap door lO is to prevent the dustor ash from the exploded powder to pass into the casing 1() and settle upon the operative partsof my improved gun, and in this way the sparking meinber or element 12 is always maintained in a olea-n and operative condition, thus insuring the positive operation of the gun under all conditions.

@ne of the principal objects of my invention is to provide a gun of the class described, which will avoid the objections to guns of this class now known and in use by the profession, which guns will operate successfully a few times after a thorough cleaning and invariably will fail to operate;

while, with my improved gun, barring the breaking of any of the parts thereof, the same is bound to operate each and every time. l

The operation of my improved gun will be readily understood from the foregoing description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the following statement z-lVhen it is desired to use the gun, the member 12 is moved into the position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing in which the sparking member or element 12 is held in a raised position by the pawl 9,1 and the trap door i0 is held in an open position by the spring 113. The flint is now adjusted to give the desired pressure upon the file strip 18 to generate sparks by the movementof the member 12 thereover after which the required amount of flash powder is placed in the trough 39 longitudinally thereof` and with part of such powder 'adjacent to the pocket 3'? and the gun is now ready for eiiplosure. rihe piston 29 is now moved into operative position by the air bulb in the usual manner to trip the pawl 21, which operation releases the member1 12 and the spring- 15 will cause said member to move into the position shown in Fig. 3 in which operation, sparks will be generated and passed through the aperture 38 to the powder, and the powder ignited or exploded and the` aperture 38 closed by the trap door 4:0. fit will be understood that the sparking member or element 12 is returned to the position shown in 1 externally of the casing 10 by moving the l.shaped arm 13 through the elongated aperture 14.

lt will also be understood that by regulating the pocket 37 and the aperture 38 directly in line with and in juxtaposition to the file strip 18 of the member 12 and just forwardly of the piece of flint 33, the sparks will be directed through the aperture 38 into the pocket 37 as well as into the trough 39 and by reason of the construction of my improved tlash gun, I am able to throw sparks from an inch to two inches long, and while l have shown certain details of construction for carrying my invention into effect, it will be understood that l am not necessarily limited to. these details, and various changes therein and modiiications thereof may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention, what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. [i flash-light gun of the class described comprising a suitable casing, a trough at one side of the casing and extending longitudinally thereof, one'corner portion of the casing being recessed to provide a pocket opening outwardly into said trough, and said casing being provided with an aperture opening into said pocket and the interior of the casing, and spark generating elements mounted within the casing and adapted to discharge sparks into the pocket and trough of said casing. j

2. A flash-light gun of the class described comprising a suitable casing, aA trough at one side of the casing and extending longitudinally thereof, one corner portion of the casing being recessed to provide a pocket opening outwardly into said trough, and said casing being provided with an aperture opening into said pocket and the interior of the casing, spark generating elements mounted within the casing and adapted to discharge sparks into the pocket and trough of said casing, and a member mounted transversely of the casing and adapted to be automatically actuated by the spark generating elements to control the communication through said aperture.

3. A. Hash-light gun of the class described comprising a rectangular boXshaped casing open at one side and adapted to be closed by a removable plate, the other side of the casing being provided with a flash powder receiver, said casing being recessed to form a comparatively large chamber opening into said receiver, said casing having an aperture for placing the interior of the casing in communication with said chamber and receiver, and a door hinged to the bottom of and within the casing and adapted to control said aperture.

4. A flash-light gun of the class described comprising a casing, one side of the casing being provided with a lash powder receiver, said casing being recessed to form a chamber opening into said receiver, and said casing being provided with an aperture for placing the interior of the casing in direct communication with said chamber.

5. A Hash-light gun of the class described comprising a casing, one side of the casing being provided with a flash powder receiver, said casing being recessed to form a chamber opening into said receiver and said casing being provided with an aperture for placing the interior of the casing in direct communication with said chamber, and spark generating elements mounted in said casing and adapted to direct sparks directly into said chamber through the aperture in said casing.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 30th day of August 1922.

EVERARD L. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK H. MAYER, J oHN J. MAYER. 

